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Birds are the best studied
vertebrate group in the
Himalayas or in the world. These
are found in good numbers in the
region but at the same time,
have been also threatened to
extinction because of multitude
of problems. In areas where we
need support, we work with other
bird conservation organizations
in the region.
Farmland Bird Study
We have conducted
several education and awareness
programs in Lumbini for the
conservation of wildlife that
lives in the farmland habitats.
BirdLife International
identified Lumbini area as an
Important Bird Area three years
ago. Furthermore, the area is
within the Terai Arc Landscape
and Conservation International's
Critical Ecosystem Partnership
Fund has also identified the
area as priority site for
conservation.
Vulture Research and
Conservation Programs
In
2006 working for vulture
conservation, Dr Hem Sagar Baral
conceived an idea to start
community managed vulture
restaurant in the lowlands of
Nepal aiming to increase their
population by providing safe
food and also putting community
in the front as the leaders in
conservation and finding ways to
bring about economic incentives
to them. In 2007, Hem secured
some funding from the UNDP for
BirdLife Nepal, Hem's former
office to work on this concept.
With support from UNDP in Nepal,
community managed vulture
restaurant started at the
western end of Chitwan National
Park in a village called
Pithauli. DB Chaudhary (known as
DB to his friend), a community
member and leader is now taking
the vulture restaurant forward.
While DB
continues to do good work, there
is still some money needed to
boost the colony of the nesting
vultures. If you would like to
support this programme, please
donate to Himalayan Nature who
will transfer the money to DB's
good work without keeping a
penny. To run one vulture
restaurant on an annual basis,
nearly 5000 pounds is needed.
Based on the
success of this work, BirdLife
in Nepal started some other
vulture restaurants in the
country. This work has been also
replicated to other parts of the
world, eg India and Cambodia.
Surveys on threatened species of
vultures have been carried out
in Koshi area, Kapilvastu,
Rupandehi, and Kanchanpur
districts. Field surveys are
being carried out at Koshi Tappu
to monitor Nepal's second
largest breeding colony of
White-rumped Vulture.
Bird Ecology and Migration
Studies
Wetland Bird Monitoring
Urban Bird Study |
